White people in SA, just like white people in the USA, have generally favored the status quo of white supremacy.
Mandela is not my hero, but I respect his sacrifices and his commitment to justice. Mandela's limitation was integrationist stance. This limitation, I believe, points to a strategic calculation by the white oppressor class.
Mandela was imprisoned but kept alive because whites concluded that if the black majority ever gained political power, they (Afrikaners) could get concessions from Mandela that would have been less likely with other elements of the anti-apatheid movement.
Biko, by contrast, insisted on a New South Africa on Black terms. Moreover, he undermined the psychological foundation on which the myth of white supremacy was erected--White privilege could not easily coexist with Black Consciousness. It was for this reason Biko was killed and Mandela was allowed to live.
Forward ever,
kzs
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